The first building 3D-printed by Apis Cor. (Image courtesy of Apis Cor.)
A lot of folks don’t know that 3D printing has been around for more than 30 years now. Even though the process has come a long way since Charles Hull introduced his stereolithography (SLA) 3D printer back in 1983, the technology continues to advance, evolve, become more affordable and find its way into new niches. Advancements in 3D printing hardware, software, materials and methods have allowed 3D printing to become prevalent in industries that were probably never even dreamed of back in 3D printing’s infancy. 3D printing technology became a major game changer early on in prototyping, and then started to make its way into industries like manufacturing, automotive and electronics. Then 3D printing started to become relevant in unexpected areas such as toys, food, health and fashion, and even now is making its way into the residential construction industry. Enter the company Apis Cor.
The Apis Cor 3D printing platform. (Image courtesy of Apis Cor.)
Apis Cor announced late last year that it had finished its first 3D-printed house near Moscow. If a fully functional 3D-printed house isn’t amazing enough, the entire main structure was printed in 24 hours. Now, in all fairness other companies with similar intent, 3D printing and the advantages it provides to the construction industry have been around for a while; however, most 3D-printed construction projects to date have been completed…